Posted By: Ricky Lee McBroom
Date: Saturday, 2 August 2008, at 7:54 p.m.
Caveman Watch Repair for your Saturday
afternoon browsing pleasure.
Posted By: Ricky Lee McBroom
Date:
Saturday, 2 August 2008, at 7:54 p.m.
I recently installed a custom-notched green croco strap on the Raketa KGB World Time, a la the mod I performed on the Dolphin last winter. I decided to shoot some
Click photo to supersize WTF!
I refuse to believe this could happen while the watch was just sitting in the case, so either A} it popped loose the last time I wore it, and I didn't notice when I put it away, or B} it was teleported into the watch by evil Space Aliens. You decide.
In any case, I wasn't a happy camper.
I briefly considered sending it off to The Watchmaker but.. well, shoot, we're talking about a $30 watch here. Figured I didn't have much to lose and, anyway, what do I have all these watchmaker's tools for if I ain't gonna use them?
Long story short, the operation was a success.
I say 'Caveman Watch Repair' because, while I'm pleased with the result, I did not reinstall the part. It's a spring of sorts, and it's purpose is to put a wee bit of tension on the internal rotating bezel. A quick lashup told me that it should work fine without it, so that's the way I went.
'Caveman' also because, while all I had to do was pop off the crystal and remove it from the front, I first popped off the back, pulled the crown and stem, and tried removing the movement from the rear. No go. Turns out the
must be removed from the front. Doh!
End result, I made 10 times the work for myself.
Reinstalling the stem was quite ticklish, as it initially didn't want to pop back in. I ended up having to remove the bridge which covers the release catch, and reset the catch. It was pretty smooth sailing after that, but I don't mind admitting that I was sweating that part of the job!
Still, all's well that ends well, and I'll leave you with a shot which shows the new strap.
I s'pose I should have shot some post-repair
So what do you think?
-Ricky
Messages In This Thread
(views: 111)
(views: 14) 
(views:
15) (views:
9)
(views: 16)
Adam! One downside
I didn't notice at first, .. >> (views:
6)..the watch now has a distinct 'rattle', resulting from the missing Bush
Part. 'tis quite a subtle thing, though, no louder than the action of the
average 
winding mechanism. So I
reckon I can live with it..
-Ricky
On a personal level, I would have hesitated to use the strap as it is wider
than the outside of the lugs. If it were even in width, I would give it a full
endorsement as perfect.
Glad you were able to dispose of the "bush part" and have it all work in the
end.
* for those that don't do repair work for a living, a "bush part" is something that gets tossed into a bush after disassembling/reassembling something, and there is a spare part, but the something is working fine without it.
for a good . "Bush part" indeed... (views: 10) Chris! Yeah, the
fact that the strap is 1mm wider than the lugs..
>> (views: 27)..is definitely a compromise, and I'd be lying if I didn't
admit that it bothered me a bit at first. But after wearing the watch for a few
days, it ceased to be a concern. I love the look and feel of this case design on
a beefy strap, and for me personally that aspect of the combo more than makes up
for the less-than-perfect width match of the case and lugs.
Hmmm. You'll have to admit that this one's perfect, then...
-Ricky
After 5 and no 
?
Allow me!
Posted By: Ricky Lee McBroom
Date:
Saturday, 2 August 2008, at 10:15 p.m.
My newly repaired
KGB World Time..
Click photo to supersize. Sorry for the quick 'n' dirty
. 'tis too bloody hot to venture outside & do it right.
August in Mississippi...
-Ricky
Anybody know a good fix for a strap keeper that's always sliding around too far?
Posted By: waco kid
Date:
Saturday, 2 August 2008, at 4:39 p.m.
When I wear my
, it seems like I'm fixing the keeper ever 20 minutes. I don't think glue would hold. Maybe a small rubber band next to the keeper.
Messages In This Thread
> (views: 25)..though only because with my ankle-sized wrists, I don't have
any 'tail' even on an Long strap.
In most cases a Long strap, if it fits at all, fits on the very first hole..
and frequently I have to drill a new 'cheater hole'. When a strap has both
a fixed and sliding strap keeper, I will move the sliding keeper to the BUCKLE
side of the fixed keeper. This is the patented RickyWatch Keeper Loop
Transposition® Operation which I've mentioned several times in the past. Here's
an example, the watch I'm wearing at this very moment...
In a very few cases, even this fix is marginal, as the tip of the tail wants to pop up between the fixed and (relocated) slider. The solution for that is to fuse the keepers together with a thin strip of epoxy-soaked fabric on the inside of the keepers. That's been done on this strap..
..and boi jé moi!, is my keyboard grungy or what?! Ah well, 'tis a
treasured antique, the last of the Lexmark/IBM PS2 line from '97, so not
too bad considering that's 11 years worth of accumulated grunge.
Anyway, not to change the subject, this last seems like it might be a solution for you. Just build up the inside of the keeper loop with an appropriate adhesive-soaked strip of fabric 'til you get a nice friction fit, and voilá! Problem solved!
-Ricky
